Adobe Releases First Subscription-Only Edition of ‘Creative’ Software

Adobe today released a major update to Creative Cloud (CC), reaffirming a controversial decision announced in May to move to subscription-based pricing only for the software applications formerly known as Creative Suite (CS).

Adobe’s new CC update centers around new apps for Windows, Mac OS X, iOS, and Android, with new cross-device collaboration and publishing capabilities. In addition, Adobe has integrated CC with Behance, its “online creative community.”

Users can share files from apps like PhotoShop, Illustrator, and InDesign across the desktop and mobile devices. For example, a designer might capture a photo on an iPad, use PhotoShop Touch to perform a rough touch-up, and then access the file from a Windows PC or a Mac for additional image enhancement.

Integration with Behance means that members are able to publish their own portfolios as well as to publish “work-in-progress” from many CC apps and obtain feedback from more than 1.4 million other members.

App-specific enhancements include new sharpening and workflow enhancements in PhotoShop, along with new video editing capabilities in Adobe Premiere Pro and a new Touch Type tool for manipulating text characters in Illustrator.

Subscriptions to CC are priced at $49.99 per month. Adobe plans to release automatic updates for adding new features to the apps.